Ten Million Voices
by Etirdoyn
Summary: Because, on October 10 in the third year of the Yondaime Hokage's reign, Haruno Sakura became a casualty of the Kyūbi Attack. To those present, little baby Sakura's heart stopped for a minute. To Sakura herself, the original canon Sakura died in that minute and she took her place.
1. Prologue

**Prologue.** **The girl with the pink hair**

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If one were to ask Haruno Sakura what her first memory was, she would say, "Visiting the Hokage Tower for the very first time."

She would then go to speak about her first visit and how her mother had needed to hand in the annual income report of their shop to one of the offices on the ground floor of the tower, that her father had been too busy working to meet a deadline for a custom order to watch her and her mother had opted to take her four year old self along for the trip. Sakura would mention the awe of seeing such a large building so close and the amazement of seeing so many higher ranked ninja - as she was only familiar with the genin whom occasionally came to deliver things for her parents' shop - in one place. She would mention the sheer wonder when luck had allowed her to meet the Hokage when he was returning to his office after visiting the Academy, would launch into an explanation how meeting the Sandaime had inspired her to beg her parents to let her apply for the Academy when she was old enough.

If one were to ask Haruno Sakura what her first memory was, she would lie because her true first memory was an impossible one - Sakura's first memory was nearly two weeks after she turned six months old. Because, on October 10 in the third year of the Yondaime Hokage's reign, Haruno Sakura became a casualty of the Kyūbi Attack. To those present, little baby Sakura's heart stopped due to the toxic and oppressive chakra of the Kyūbi for a minute before restarting once more, leaving her perfectly healthy albeit highly distressed over the event.

To Sakura herself, the original _canon_ Sakura died in that minute and _she_ took her place. It was the truth, though, that she was highly distressed over the event, just...not in the way that everyone thought.

It wasn't the Kyūbi's chakra that distressed her, _she_ in fact never felt it, but waking up in a body far smaller and more fragile then her original. It was waking up cradled in a stranger's arms with a glowing hand pressed to her chest while to more strangers burst into tears, all three ignoring her to have a rapid fire conversation in a language she didn't understand. It was realizing that she couldn't talk and could hardly move, that she was utterly reliant on these strangers to help her. But it was being carried out of the shelter days later, seeing first the destruction of the village then, when her carrier moved far enough, the Hokage Mountain and realizing just _where_ she was regardless of the impossibility of it that distressed her so much.

Sakura stressed her parents out a lot in the time following, for all the screaming and crying she did after the realization. And it wasn't until the memorial for all whom had died that she had finally fallen silent, the list was astronomical and, for every ninja death, there were another ten civilian deaths - entire scores of which were made up of children for whom the Kyūbi's chakra had been toxic.

There were more invasions, she had remembered.

"You can stop now, Haruno-kun!" the words pulled her back to the present and she did another lap - old physical education memories keeping her from stopping immediately to sit down - with her speed decreasing from a run to a walk then standstill as she came before the group of adults. Her mother smoothed her hair as she regained her breath, quicker now that she was an energetic seven year old.

Once she had regained her breath, the chūnin that had been escorting them lead them away - another group taking their place before they were even out of sight. It wasn't until they were back at the entrance that their escort said anything, "That was the last test Haruno-kun, and you did well."

"So?" Sakura pressed, torn between excitement and fear, "Did I do well enough to be admitted, Uchiha-san?"

"Yes," The chūnin said, "Haruno-kun, you fell within the acceptance range and will be expected to be present seven in the morning on Monday for class assignments." Then the Uchiha smiled and it was _beautiful_ , "Congratulations, Haruno-kun."

She bowed, "Thank you, Uchiha-san." Once they were dismissed and had left the Academy behind, she turned to her mother with wide eyes, "So?"

"You can go, I suppose," Mebuki frowned when she cheered, "Though I don't know why you _want_ to, being a ninja is terribly dangerous."

 _Everything in this world is terribly dangerous,_ Sakura thought but didn't say. " _Everyone_ wants to be a ninja," She said instead. "And if I'm not suited for it then I won't graduate, it's not like any I'm _not_ learning things that will be taught in the civilian schools."

Her mother's frown grew more pronounced, "But you won't be learning _everything_ that they teach, if you do have to switch schools then you'll be behind in your studies."

"Then I'll study those things on Sunday!" She declared, "And you and Tōsan can hire a tutor to make sure I'm keeping up with my age mates. And- and you can teach me how to run the shop after I finish my homework!"

"That could work," Mebuki allowed slowly before glancing at her with a hard glint, "But it would mean a lot of work, think you can handle it?"

Sakura nodded firmly, "Of course!"

The conversation with her father is easier, Haruno Kizashi had once dreamed of being a ninja as a child and had even entered the Academy. It was bad luck that Kizashi had gotten sick as an Academy student and never quite recovered well enough to pass the physical aspects of the Academy's curriculum, but it did mean that he was sympathetic and supported her wish to join.

"I did it!" are Sakura's first words as they enter their house, bounding up to her father when he exits the kitchen to greet them, "I've been accepted!"

Kizashi immediately swept her into his arms with a whoop, "I knew you could! We have to celebrate!"

Mebuki smiled helplessly when her husband swung their daughter around in glee, "I suppose we do."


	2. I - The Academy

**I.** **The Academy**

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The Haruno family arrived at the Academy on April 7 at precisely six-thirty in the morning, this was in no small part due to the youngest member of the family.

Sakura wasn't a morning person, even in her previous life she had been an afternoon and night person with her most active hours being from nine at night to midnight, but she knew her habits well. She could have, of course, not woken up until six-thirty and made it to the Academy before seven but that wouldn't mean she was necessarily _awake_ (something she has no doubt that will be trained out of her) - no, better arrive half an hour early to allow herself time to wake up properly then to potentially miss something important because she was sleepy.

That part of it was her eagerness to see the members of the Rookie Nine was something she kept entirely to herself.

The first people to arrive were a group of Aburame, following them were the Hyūga then the Uchiha. There was a ten minute gap, where smaller groups of twos and threes arrived in the form of civilian families and returning students, before the next large group came and it was the Inuzuka. After them was the Yamanaka followed by the Akimichi who were in turn followed by the Sandaime whom was escorting an adorably small Naruto. The Nara came right before the chūnin, who had apparently been in the Academy since before even _they_ had arrived, started to call out class assignments.

It went from the last year to the first so Sakura didn't pay much attention until she knew her age mates were being assigned - though she was interested to know that, while Tenten and Lee shared a class, Neji was on his own - and was both startled and _not_ to find that she was assigned to the same class as the Rookie Nine. That they all would be Iruka's students.

After a quick round of hugs, though, Sakura was scurrying after Iruka as he lead her class to the room they'd be in.

Once in the room, she immediately aimed for the back and wound up between Shino - who had claimed the back left corner - and Hinata whom had claimed the isle seat after several other choices were stolen from her by eager children. In the moments that the last few children were seating themselves, Sakura looked for the other members of the Rookie Nine; Shikamaru, Chouji and Naruto were also seated at the back, though they had claimed the opposite side of the room, near the windows. Kiba was seated in front of Naruto, who had the corner, and was without Akamaru which shocked her. Sasuke and Ino were both at the front of the class, Sasuke being right at the center while Ino was closer to the door.

"You are all here because you have the potential to become proud shinobi of Konoha." Iruka started.

Then Iruka was launching into a lecture about what was expected of them as students and what would be expected when - if - they became ninja. There was emphasis that not everyone would become a ninja, and that if they _didn't_ become one there wasn't any shame in it. Shikamaru, she saw, was the first to fall asleep followed by Kiba then Naruto, who snored and attracted the chūnin's attention, earning a piece of chalk to the head.

It was, she knew, going to become a familiar sight.

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"Yamanaka Ino?" Iruka-sensei, as he had insisted on being called the first day, asked. When Ino piped up a clear _here!_ , he stood and said, "Follow me."

Bemused, the first day they spent the entire time in class, Sakura stood and followed behind Hinata as their class trooped outside to a very familiar track. It was the same one that she had used the previous Thursday during her physical when it was tested to see if she were healthy enough to enter the Academy.

"You will run every morning," Iruka-sensei told them from where he stood before the dirt track, "We will not move on until _everyone_ has finished their laps. The amount you will have to do will get higher the more you progress, for now you only need to do four." A beat where feet shuffled, all of them wondering if they were starting _now_ , before, "Go on."

Kiba took off first, Sasuke and Naruto darting after with three other boys Sakura didn't know. Shino went at a steady run, uncaring that other boys raced past him to try to reach the front runners, with Ino alternating between running in front of him and lagging behind him. Then Hinata sped off, reminding her that _she_ had to run also.

She hated running.

Even now, with the seemingly endless energy that being a child gave her, Sakura hated it. It was, she's always thought, terribly boring and now she didn't even have any music to listen to as she ran. Sure, watching the boys compete for first - though Sasuke seemed to be less competing and more trying to do his very best which just so happened to make the others competitive - was entertaining, but not endlessly so. By the second lap, she was bored with watching now that the majority of the competition fell behind. Her gaze moved on, from Shino who kept his pace to Ino whom was jogging with a pair of girls before landing on Hinata.

The Hyūga was running alone, on the outside of the track so not to be in others' way if they passed her, and hardly seemed to _notice_ she was running. Sakura watched until she was on her third lap, deciding that _that_ was what she wanted to be like - to be able to run without even noticing. At the turn, Hinata caught her watching and turned red, tripping and Sakura decided to look away.

 _Would I get in trouble for bringing a book?_ she wondered, thoroughly bored even as she had to slow down to a walk. She was startled to a stop when the trio raced past, lapping her and finishing their laps right before she started her fourth one.

She winced and started running once more when Iruka-sensei glanced at her.

After the last person, surprisingly not Shikamaru, was finished running they were lead back to their classroom and lectured on the Shinobi Rules for half an hour before they moved onto geography. Iruka-sensei drew a rough sketch of the Elemental Countries - something Sakura was familiar with due to the large map that hung on the wall in her parents' office - before pointing to an area and asking them if they knew what was located there. When he got a correct answer, he drew something - a circle for a city or town, a star for a capital, smooth lines for borders, squiggly lines for rivers and etc. - then mentioned a fact or two related to the area before moving to a new spot.

On her part, Sakura was just proud to be able to give five correct answers.

Lunch was announced when they finished and Hinata spoke to them for the first time, "D-did you want t-to, um, g-get up?"

"No." Shino answered simply, already slipping a hand into his coat to retrieve - presumably- his lunch.

"I'm fine," She said then, now that they _were_ talking and Sakura was no longer worried about starting a conversation, continued sheepishly, "I'm sorry for making you trip."

The girl turned red. "I- it's, um, f-fine? B-but why w-were you, um, w-wa-watching?"

"I was jealous, you made it seem so effortless." She admitted, making Hinata turn darker.

The girl squeaked, "T-th-thank you..!"

 _Hinata,_ Sakura decided as she brought out her own lunch, _is adorable._

She lets the conversation end, though, partially afraid of doing something to make Hinata faint but mostly aware of Shino sitting next to them and having no idea how to include him in a conversation. Not that she really had an idea of how to _continue_ the conversation, emails and messaging was easier - no one had to know that sometimes she spent _hours_ agonizing on what to say, they would simply assume she had replied when she saw it.

 _I can make a list of potential topics,_ she mused as she started eating. It was something that had worked well enough in her previous life, she may not have been known for her social graces or conversational skills Before, but basically _everyone_ had their own opinions on things like Disney and Harry Potter. _Not that,_ she thought glumly as she shoved a bit into her mouth, _any of those topics are available **here**._

 _I could..._ the thought trailed away and she hurriedly ate the rest of her food so she could tuck the container away. She brought out a notebook - one that was _supposed_ to be for school but, well, she was at school so it counted? - and swiftly made a list of everything she recalled about Harry Potter. How To Train Your Dragon and it's sequel followed, then Rise of Guardians and everything she knew about the multiple series that made up the Tortall universe. She kept writing everything she knew - everything she could _remember_ \- about favorite movies, books, games, manga, TV shows and anime long past the time it took for her hand to start aching, stopping only when she found the notebook had ran out of room in the middle of listing the pokémon she recalled.

Sakura let the pencil drop in relief, though she wondered if the last thing in the notebook being an _Absol_ of all things should be taken as an omen. Then she noted that her seatmates were looking towards her and said, "Um."

She had very specifically not written anything related to _Naruto_ , but writing a series of notes on several _different_ storylines that didn't exist was...odd. She could potentially explain it away as having been thinking about and 'developing' the storylines before now, that she decided to write them all down before she forget now that she was going to be learning a lot of new things. The plots, however, were more developed then what the usual seven year old could come up with so, unless they asked _directly_ , she wasn't going to say anything.

 _It'd be safer to hide it away, even at home,_ she mused as she quietly but firmly closed the notebook in a silent _don't ask_ move that made the two turn their attention elsewhere. Maybe they didn't care, maybe her response was intimidating or they were simply too polite to ask after something she didn't want them to, which ever reason it was she was relieved neither said anything. _To leave it alone until I'm 'mature' enough that 'developing' them wouldn't be odd._

It wasn't something she _wanted_ to do, but it was the _smart_ thing to do. Sakura may not want to be average, but she _definitely_ didn't want to draw attention.

Lunch ended soon after and Iruka started a history lesson on the Warring States Era that seemed to amount to 'it was bad, being a village is better' before moving onto the more familiar subject of math. For all that the questions were about kunai and shuriken and the amount of space available in the average storage scroll, math was a familiar subject. Hand Seals, on the other hand, was an entirely new subject matter - one that was frustrated her to no end because she just _could not_ get her hands to obey her and form the seals properly.

It was a great relief when they moved on, trooping outside once more to a different area then the track (which seemed to be in use already and made her wonder at how long it took to schedule things before the start of each year) where they were put to work. Push-ups, crunches, squats and all those other exercises that she had never liked were what they were made to do, twenty of each though many couldn't do that much - _she_ averaged at twelve for each set which wasn't the _worst_ but wasn't really _good_ either. They did a series of stretches - some were familiar like 'touch your toes' but there were also ones like 'touch your left heel with your right hand' - and were assigned homework before they were dismissed.

Well, the _boys_ were but the majority of the girls trooped back inside to room eleven where Suzume-sensei was waiting.

Technically speaking, the 'kunoichi classes' weren't mandatory for the girls to take but it was encouraged and with them all growing up with heroes in great kunoichi like _Tsunade_ , very few decided not take the class. For her part, Sakura took the classes because she knew her mother would have wanted her to when Mebuki learnt that it taught typical 'female' things like sewing. Not that she had a problem with sewing, it was something she had wanted to learn Before (due to her tendency of putting holes in her clothes) but never really got around to, or any of the other skills taught it was just...she _really_ hated seeing the boys leave for the day while she still had another class.

Two, if one counted the lessons that she came home to find.


End file.
